I awoke from a deep slumber, completely disoriented. I looked up at the overwhelming darkness above me, desperately hoping to see trails of scattered stars to help me figure out exactly where I was. Instead, all I saw was pitch-black nothingness. It gradually dawned on me that I had dozed off the night before on a swaying hammock deep inside a massive cave, where we had journeyed for a grueling overnight spelunking expedition.
It was a cave with a staggering ceiling rising as high as 200 feet. I looked down at my glowing watch, and it showed 6:35 AM. It was bright daytime outside, but it remained an infinite, heavy evening inside this dark cavern. As we slowly prepared for our hot breakfast before crawling our way out through the other end, I stood up and quietly packed my mud-stained belongings. I mentally prepared myself for the rigorous, physically demanding routes that still awaited us across the many chambers of Langun Gobingob.
A Dark Night Inside Langun Gobingob Cave
The Man Who Caved In
The day before we bravely entered the mammoth mouth of Langun Gobingob Cave in Calbiga, Samar, cave master Joni Bonifacio of Trexplore the Adventures thoroughly briefed us on the complex history of the cave.
The cave, which had been loosely known to locals for many decades, rose to international prominence in 1987 when an Italian group of expert speleologists led by Guido Rossi successfully explored the cave's deepest and farthest chambers. Local caving enthusiasts quickly joined future explorations after a thorough and meticulous mapping process.
Joni Bonifacio was one of the many young locals who were powerfully drawn in by the allure of the cave. Soon after his high school graduation, Joni began guiding his close friends on weekend forays deep inside Langun Gobingob. After a hundred grueling spelunking trips to the cave, Bonifacio decided to establish Trexplore the Adventures, a specialized adventure outfitter that safely guides thrill-seeking visitors through the rugged terrains of Samar, Leyte, and Biliran.
In the years since, Bonifacio has undeniably become the go-to expert guide for cavers looking to safely explore Samar's numerous complex cave systems. He became so highly well-known that he was even officially recommended in the pages of the prestigious Lonely Planet guidebook.
Langun Gobingob: ‘Biggest’ Cave in the Philippines
Deep inside Calbiga Cave, we discovered a stunning treasure trove of karst formations of various intricate shapes and massive sizes spanning a jaw-dropping 2,970-hectare underground labyrinth. The epic sight easily affirmed current scientific claims that it is the Philippines' absolute largest cave system and one of the largest in all of Asia. It's so unbelievably huge that our very first muddy camping spot was jokingly dubbed the "football field."
However, when we first entered the cave, the previous night's heavy rain had violently turned the ground into a dark swamp buried in three solid feet of thick mud. This completely ruined our itinerary, forcing us to make an emergency, makeshift campsite on one of the cave's elevated flat sections.
‘Leave No Trace’ Policy
Inside the cave, we strictly and religiously adhered to Sir Joni's non-negotiable "leave no trace" policy. Not only did we make absolutely sure to bag all of our trash, but anything biologically related to human nature had to be rigorously stored: we carried a dedicated plastic bottle for urine and a heavy-duty garbage bag for all solid waste.
I know that peeing in a tiny bottle is a piece of cake in comparison to doing the dreaded "number two." I honestly thought I was safe from having to poop in the dark, but the next day I awoke to some violent roaring sounds emanating from my tummy.
So I hunched down awkwardly beside a few dead stalagmites and went over my business. The required trick was to spread a plastic bag as wide as physically possible before carefully covering it with thick sheets of tissue paper to absorb the poop's fluid. When you're finished, you gently roll it over and tie it up tightly before placing it in a much larger, sealed garbage bag. It was slightly easier than you might think, but I genuinely pitied the poor guide who was assigned to carry it out of the cave.
A Tangled Maze of Spectacular Chambers
On our grueling way out the next day, we finally saw the full, unadulterated splendor of Langun Gobingob Cave. We were greeted by incredible stalactite and stalagmite formations as we carefully moved from one giant chamber to the next. We could see the calcium carbonate-covered rock formations shimmering brightly like extravagant jewels, even in the absolute dark, with only our tiny headlamps illuminating our tricky path.
Joni had a distinct, creative name for each major chamber. "Giant Chandeliers," for example, referred directly to the massive section where stalactites sharply resembled the dripping crystals of massive ballroom chandeliers. Whenever exhaustion aggressively set in, all I had to do was point my headlamp at the fascinating rock formations looming around me, and the pain would quickly be replaced by sheer visual euphoria.
The final leg of our underground journey would easily pique the interest of any hardcore adventurer. We waded through freezing chest-deep natural pools, ambled through slippery mud-filled cavernous passageways, and successfully rappelled down a sheer 40-meter-high vertical wall. Nature brilliantly designed every single inch of this cave to relentlessly challenge and accommodate every daring caver.
While splashing my way aggressively into yet another freezing natural pool, I finally saw the glorious, hazy light faintly emanating from the massive mouth of the cave.
"We're almost there," I told myself as Audrey, my new Belgian caving friend, walked closely behind me. As we proudly posed for a photo commemorating our successful two-day assault on the Langun Gobingob Cave, I was completely overcome with mixed emotions. I was overjoyed that I could finally relax all of my battered limbs and aching muscles, but I was also strangely sad to leave this incredibly alien, ancient location.
As we happily exchanged muddy high-fives, I turned around for one last long look and silently thanked Mother Nature for ruthlessly carving this incredible, breathtaking cave over hundreds of thousands of years.
* This article first appeared on the Lifestyle page of The Daily Tribune on July 21, 2018. *
